AEW President Tony Khan shared his immense pride in Konosuke Takeshita following his historic victory at NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling, where he defeated Zack Sabre Jr. to become the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Speaking at the AEW WrestleDream post-show media scrum, Khan was asked about the significance of Takeshita’s win and made it clear that despite his success in Japan, “The Alpha” is an AEW wrestler. Khan’s comments underscore the strong relationship between the two promotions and his belief in Takeshita as a top-tier, homegrown star for the American audience, even with his prior experience in Japan.
Khan praised Takeshita’s loyalty and his development within the AEW system, recalling his start with the company during the pandemic era at Daily’s Place.
“Takeshita winning the championship is good for AEW and New Japan, even his original home promotion of DDT, where he first came to AEW from. He represents multiple promotions, but make no mistake, Takeshita is an AEW wrestler. He is an AEW guy. We’re all really proud of him. Takeshita is somebody that joined AEW at Daily’s Place. He’s been with us for a long time. Even though he wasn’t here at the very beginning of AEW, he came at a time where we were all spending time together at Daily’s Place… Even though he wasn’t at the beginning of AEW, in America, he’s gotten all this TV experience in AEW. He feels like an AEW homegrown person, even though he had experience before he came here. To have somebody that came from our locker room and came up in Daily’s Place and worked his way up, somebody that I believe debuted on Elevation and worked his way into the shows and main event spots and has become the AEW International Champion and now IWGP World Heavyweight champion is a really cool thing.”
When asked about the potential for a “Champion vs. Champion” match between Takeshita and AEW World Champion “Hangman” Page, Khan was open to the idea but noted it would be a decision made in partnership with NJPW.
“Gedo and the team, President (Hiroshi) Tanahashi, we’d all have to talk. I certainly have no control over what the IWGP World Champion does in New Japan. Takeshita is a big part of our roster and he’s definitely in our plans in a major way.”
Takeshita’s next major title defense is already set, as he is scheduled to face Hirooki Goto at NJPW’s “Tanahashi Final Homecoming” event in November.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription. Thanks for checking out this article. Make sure to follow Jeff Jarrett and all things GFE on Facebook.